A New Cave

Hong Zhao dropped down from a tree at frightening speeds while releasing a Qi Shot, then preparing his Devouring Qi Claws before even hitting the forest floor. His opponent, a cross between a lion and a bird uncurled its wings before Hong Zhao could connect.

As he rolled out of the way of the beast, Hong Zhao watched the strange animal take flight. It was the first of it's kind that he had ever seen, yet after a month and a half of seeing the same snakes and panthers, he welcomed the challenge. Or he did, at least until the beast roared and changed direction, heading straight back towards Hong Zhao.

The Lion-bird's roar bellowed fire to Hong Zhao who sidestepped and missed it by inches. He could feel the heat on his face as he maxed out his Vortex Thrust. Instead of waiting on the ground for the beast to get him, he launched himself at a tree trunk and began to run upward. The trees in the area he resided in were at least a hundred feet tall, yet he ran up the side like it was a sidewalk, then jumped off into a dive, aiming for the beast.

Hong Zhao activated his Devouring Qi Claws and waited to come in contact with the flying beast. He had aimed himself not where the beast was, but where it would most likely when he arrived.

Luck was on his side as Hong Zhao's claws sunk into the beast's back, yet it wasn't enough to bring it down. A roar escaped the creature's mouth as it began climbing higher and higher until it was even past the trees. Hong Zhao was held to the creature by his claws. He didn't dare deactivate the ability, for fear of falling the full height the lion hybrid was climbing to.

Hong Zhao was reminded of bull riding as he was bucked back and forth, just a few hundred feet above ground. If he didn't get a handle on the beast, it would just have to outlast the Qi that supplied the claws before Hong Zhao fell to his death. "Go down you over sized cat bird!" He roared as he forced his claws forward, making the lion respond in pain. Suddenly they were in a dive to the forest floor. Hong Zhao took out one claw and forced it back in countless times. He could feel the life leaving the lion before they even hit the ground.

Removing both claws, Hong Zhao pushed off from his new prey and landed on a tree branch right before the ground came up to meet them.

"That was fun." Hong Zhao brushed off his uniform before he jumped off the branch and landed next to the lion-bird. "Didn't we call you a gryphon in my old world?" Hong Zhao thought out loud as he remembered fantasy novels he grew up with. "Well, doesn't matter now!" He smiled as he activated his claws once more and began to carve up the gryphon.

Hong Zhao took the core from the forehead of the beast and examined it. "This was eighth star!" He checked the Qi from within the core, then decided to find a safe place to cultivate.

Hong Zhao jumped on to the lowest branch of a tall tree and began climbing upwards. He found a large branch and sat in the lotus position. He then ate the beast core, as well as a Qi Grasping Pill and began to cultivate.

Though the beast's core was a rank above his own, the Qi from within the core wasn't enough to break him through into the next rank, instead, with the help of the pill, he was able to make his Qi Spiral swell once more. He knew it was almost time for him to climb one more step up the ladder of cultivation.

After a few hours, Hong Zhao had completely refined not only the beast core and the Qi Grasping Pill, but also the savage Qi that his claws had gotten through the kill of the gryphon.

"Even if I didn't break through yet, at least it wasn't a snake." Hong Zhao said in exasperation. He was getting tired of snake meat and was hoping that this chance sighting was proof that he was breaking through the snake's boundary into a new species location.

Before he left, he carved up the gryphon and put the meat within his storage ring. At least he was going to eat well for the next few days.

Activating his movement ability, Hong Zhao once again rose into the trees and continued his path further into the forest.

As he searched, he chanced across an opening in a rock formation which looked to be a cave. He still remembered the last time he ran into such a find. He had grown rich from the box of Qi Stones he had found.

He landed near the entrance and looked around. Not even bugs seemed to sound at the entrance to the cave, he knew such a find was not going to be simple. The last time he had come across a cave, he was almost digested by a snake.

"There was a cave in the snake's domain, maybe this is another boundaries location?" He thought on it for a minute, and it made some sense. Maybe the strength of the beasts directly correlates to the size of the treasure.

With that thought, he made his way through the maw of the cave and began his dissent inside.